Settling In

Hola de Cuzco!

I'm settling into Cusco just fine.  My house is pretty awesome, there's lots of housemate love going on.

I got pretty lucky that the class was canceled this week.  I was under the impression I was going to be a teacher's assistant since I am not TEFL certified.  Turns out I'm not the assistant, I'm the teacher.  They expected my to teach on Monday, with only a 30 min crash course on teaching English and never seeing the site or meeting the women I'll be teaching.  If that weren't stressful enough, I never saw a curriculum and they handed me disorganized notes from the previous teacher 30 minutes before going to the class.  I was REALLY annoyed.  I was a bit indigent with the program coordinator.  But since its Semana Santa (holy week) and its a Catholic program, its canceled this week!  Sweet.  

Most of Peru shuts down for Semana Santa.  Cuzco mostly stays open through the week because its a tourist town, but everything's gonna be shut this weekend.  Since I haven't had to teach all week, all I had to do was Spanish class Tuesday and Wednesday.  I'm taking a week of private lessons then I'm going to sign up for a tandom program, where they pair you with a local to get together and chat. Spanish class was canceled yesterday and today.  So I went with Alejandra, my housemate, to the old folks home to help out yesterday.  It was incredibly uncomfortable. I have a hard time interacting with elderly when they speak English, these women if they can speak at all speak Quechua, the native language in Cuzco.  Alejandra and I both skipped today because our whole house had the day off.  They are ok with volunteers taking days off, which is nice.

Cusco, Day 1

My thoughts are a bit disorganized, but I want to share my day while its still fresh.  So bare with me.  

My flight was long, I arrived in Lima at 4:30am and had a 5 hour lay over.  I finally got to Cusco at 11, I gathered my bag and walked out the airport to an insane amount of people waiting to pick people up.  I was overwhelmed from the get go trying to find the guy with my name on his sign.  I finally find him, he puts me in a taxi, gives the driver instructions in Spanish that I can't understand, then shuts the door.  If I was going to give advice to anyone else wanting to do this, my first thing I would say is that you have be able to trust other people a lot.  I was completely dependent on these guys who I couldn't understand.  It was an uneasy feeling.  But, obviously, everything worked out.  We went to the office, then to my accommodation. 

My accommodation is so much better than I anticipated!  The house is actually really nice, there's a living room, (where my roommates are currently watching Hunger Games that they bought at the market for 3.5soles (which is about $1.50)).  My room is upstairs where I have a double sized bed with bureau.  I room with two 19 year old Canadians.  It's their first day too.  The view is pretty great and there's a roof top with a great view of the mountains and the city.  

My meals are provided.  So far I've had two.  And they are the best meals I have ever had.  Period.  (sorry Sherie).  I've already decided to bring home a cook book and learn how to cook Peruvian food.  I will take pictures of future meals now that I know they are so good.  Tonight we had some type of white flakey fish with onions and tomatoes and strange potato like thing.  

I had orientation today, it made me feel much better about this whole program.  I was very in the dark until I showed up. Again, with the trust thing.  Some tips I've learned, (I'm looking at you Caitlin!) there is no need to go through International Volunteer Headquarter.  I was happy with them until I got here to Cusco and realized that I could have volunteered directly with Maximo Nivel.  I don't know what the cost of volunteering with Maximo is compared to what I paid, but I do know that the guy who went directly though Maximo gets FREE spanish lessons!  I have to pay $60 or $70/ week.  

Tomorrow I get to learn about my project and see the site where I'll be working.  There's another girl in the house who's working at old folks home. She likes it there, but shes in the medical program. But at least I might have someone to walk with.  So in my house, there is an Australian Rasta man, a German photographer, a girl from Chicago (!), a couple Canadian girls, an Irish chick and a girl from Puerto Rico. Its a nice combination.  

Overall an intense but very good day :)  Oh and there was a parade today!

Dating is expensive

**Note:  This blog was written a month or two ago.  I never posted it because I was worried about how I would come across.  After reading the draft again I decided that it is kind of funny (as least I think so) and therefore worth sharing.  It should also be noted from the beginning that "Date" in this story (who's name I can not even remember at this time) is NOT, I repeat NOT, the same guy I am dating now**

Someone used to tell me that I should write a book about all the crazy messes I seem to get myself into.  Like when I got caught in a Pakistani independence parade in Chicago that didn't end so well for me.  Or when I called my sister as tornado sirens were going off to see if there was really a tornado (only to be reminded by her co-workers that I had driven her to the airport that morning and she was in Turkey).  How about the "Four room celebration of camelka" and Super K cape.  Or a favorite, how I accidently stole some guys wallet and then returned it to spite him and the horrible offenses he slurred at me.  I really should re-post these stories for nostalgia....I love my twenties.  My "wacky KP tales" (its a working title) are becoming fewer as I get older which only makes me panic more about my impending birthday celebration.

Anyways, I recently joined a free dating site if for nothing else than to bring some entertainment to my life.  Moping over failed relationships isn't something I particularly enjoy doing so I figured I could flirt with some guys, maybe get a date out of it, and hell maybe even get a free dinner here or there.  That plan back fired on me recently.

I planned a date with a guy this week.  I'm already 2 dates in with a different guy that I actually like, so I'm not that invested in this date, really only going out of scheduling obligation at this point.  He was nice enough though, actually could be a cool guy to hang out with as friends, but of course I could never tell him that.  A serious downfall of online dating, how do you go on a date with a guy and then say, "Hey, you're kinda cool but not cool enough to date me, wanna be friends?"  Regardless, we had a decent time, decided to go switch up bars at one point.  I start making the awkward fake grab for my wallet, he doesn't stop me.  I am a firm believer in equal rights, and if women want to be treated as equals (and we do) we should pay equally.  But I'm broke and under-employed. I make the awkward fake grab each time, with full intention of going dutch and not judging the guy if he doesn't offer to cover the bill.  And I won't hold it against them id he doesn't.  But man you earn some major brownie points when you pick up the tab on the first date.  Chivalry is not dead my friends.  Want to impress a lady friend?  Take care of money business, pour their drinks, open doors, make them walk on the inside of the sidewalk, and for god sakes walk a girl to her car (or door)!

But I digress. Back to the date:

We give our cards to the bar tender.  Date excuses himself to the bathroom.  Bar tender comes back to tell me that Date's card had been declined and asks if I would like to just put it all on my card.  I decided quickly that the kindest and least awkward thing is for me to just pay the bill, knowing we are headed to a different bar and he can just pick up the tab there.  Let me tell you, telling a guy his card was declined for $15 charge on a first date IS an awkward situation...there is no way around that.  We went to the other bar, ordered a few drinks and tried to recover from the awkwardness.  It was almost recovered when the waitress comes back to ask if we want a second round.  Mind you its still early, I say I could go for another, but Date responds that he only has $20 on him.  Well shit.  Not willing to pay for another round of drinks myself, we cash out, pack it up and go our separate ways. (He did not walk me to my car)

As I was driving home I started to get very suspicious of the whole thing.  Who goes on a first date with less than $15 on their card?!  And not have any other form of payment available?  I honestly wonder if he planned that, I feel duped!

I have to say, I feel for ya guys, if I had to pay for first dates I would not go on them!  I dropped 40 bucks on a guy who isn't going to call.  And the real kicker is, I don't want him to call.  Not because of this story, but because I already started liking the other guy and I feel guilty for even going on another date.

I think the lesson to take away from this is that dating.is.expensive. I could never be one of those rotten people who try to date two people at once.  Oy vey!

A Travel blog you say

5 days until I leave for Peru.  People keep asking me if I'm nervous or excited, and oddly I'm not either one.  I mean yes, I'm excited, I know its going to be great, but I'm not jumping out of my skin for it to be Saturday.  And that might be where the nervousness sneaks in.  I'm equally nervous and excited, which is giving me this strange sense of calm about the whole thing.  (180 degree revelation from the last post, I realize). I've been tying up loose ends here (ie parking tickets, camera goods) and beyond that nothing is really in my control.  I just have to get my self and my pack to the airport by 3:30pm on Saturday, after that I have no control.  I will be picked up at the airport (I'm really looking forward to it, there's going to be a dude with my name on a board waiting for me, just like the movies).  Beyond that,  I can't change how much Spanish I still don't know, or how much money I still don't have, I don't have to worry about accommodation or food, and I don't want to plan any social outings/hikes until I get there.  It'll be cheaper to plan when I'm there and hopefully I can jump on with some other volunteers.


The one thing I am nervous about:  They just told me I'm going to be teaching English at a nursing home.  Eeeek!  I don't know how to interact with elderly!  They are ignoring my years of experience working with kids and throwing me into an completely unknown environment.  Seems almost like "experience karma"  I thought I'd have it easy, just chill with some kiddos talking in Spanglish.  Wrong.  I really hope the old men don't hit on my.  I know that sounds arrogant and mean, but really, old men looooove me.  I don't know what it is, they always hit on me.  


There is a major holiday the first week I'm there.  Apparently they have a major holiday every other weekend from what I hear.  My volunteer organization was quick to tell me that my schedule would be interrupted for special events and that I will  "be asked to join in the regular, day to day care of patients during that time." Great.  I bet I'm going to have to change adult diapers.


Hopefully I'm way off base.  Probably.  Hopefully.  We'll see.  No point in stressing about it now.  To Peru!!

History repeats itself

Tonight, I am freaking stressed out about Peru.  All day really I've been stressed about it.  And it just dawned on me....this is EXACTLY what happened to me as I was trying to go to Australia.  Apparently I am hardwired to panic.

Didn't know I'm going to Peru?  Oh.  I got news:  I'm going to Peru!  For 7 weeks.  6 of those weeks I'll be teaching English for a volunteer program.

Now the problem remains....how do I afford it and get the most out of my experience.  (Isn't that always the case with travel?)  Earlier today I was depressed and resigned to giving up.  Now I'm feeling revived by kind words on Facebook, and a certain friend bringing the fight out in me and making me realize that I really do want this.  If I don't go now, I'm never going to go.  I might to vacation in Peru, maybe. But once I get that "real job"  its not like I can take 2 months off to go galavanting around South America.

**(side note:  I just googled galavanting to see how its spelled and was led to what looks to be an unbelievably awesome website called http://www.gogalavanting.com/, an online women's travel magazine that says this in its intro: "When it comes to travel, we believe people are interested in more than just the latest gear and reviews of ludicrously expensive resorts. We know that not every female is in search of the world’s perfect facial. And that people without trust funds travel too."  I firmly believe that that is an affirmative sign to go!)**

The bad news I received earlier is that the adoption agency I've been working for may not have the funds to keep me employed for much longer.  I'm pretty sure I can stay on until I leave for Peru but after that its a toss up.  The ironic part is that its all the work I've done there that has highlights just how dire things are.  Damn me, I shoulda done a shit job.  Regardless of my employment status come June, I only have barely enough money saved up to make this work.  That in itself is stressing me out, though I'm trying to remind myself that I made Australia work and that was a far larger risk.  I guess I know that I can make it work, its just a matter if I can manage to do everything I want to do.  I doubt I'll get another opportunity like this.

I learned that the biggest attraction in Peru, the creme de la creme, the Inca trail and Macchu Picchu costs upwards of $500.  And I don't have the time to search for the best deal because I should have booked it 3 months ago.  Irritated.  So I'm thinking now that I might go to Macchu Picchu for a day or two and hike a different mountain that is far cheaper.  But wouldn't that be like going to Paris and not seeing the Eiffel Tower?  Or Big Ben in London?  Or eating a Philly cheesesteak in Philly??  So I should just suck it up and make it work.  I might have to go to extremes, but I should make it work.  By extremes I don't mean selling my body.  More like banking on a tax return, closing out a forgotten retirement fund (again), and/or not eating in Peru.  

All for this view:

This could be me!

She's Crafty: A cardigan

Getting into my craftiness a bit more which may or may not be attributed to the addition of pinterest to my life.  Today, I was overcome with the need to do something or get rid of a sweater my Mom got me for Christmas.  It's a nice sweater, but a bit too big and a bit too blue for me, and I lost the receipt so I couldn't exchange it if I wanted to.  I found a tutorial on how to make a cardigan out of old sweaters from this neat blog.  It was pretty straight forward, but I have to admit, I would have never thought to make a cardigan.  Sweater cardigans are not common in my wardrobe.  I usually opt for a hoodie, but for that reason and because I now work in an office where hoodie's would most certainly be frowned upon...a cardigan was a great idea!

So between Samantha's 4th birthday party and the superbowl party I ran to JoAnn Fabrics to pick up some bias tape, lace, and snaps.  I started around 4:30pm with this sweater:

By 6pm, as I'm rushing to get as much done before the Superbowl, it looked a little dicey:

I cut the sweater down the center, always the most stressful part.  I used 1" bias tape that I cut in half and wrapped around the edge of the sweater.  The first go didn't work so well, but thankfully, I just cut another line off the sweater and none's the wiser.

My stitching is never very good.  At least in my opinion.  There's always a lot of "well, that's good enough" when I start sewing, so I  picked up grey 1" lace.  Neat trick....it hides all my bad stitching!

During the first half of the game, I hand sewed snaps on the top.  I've never worked with snaps or buttons before (they intimidate me).  It was a bit trickier than I anticipated.  Took a little improvising to sew the snaps on without showing any thread on the outside of the sweater.

And ta-da...well before the Patriots tanked in the Superbowl, I was finished!

I may add some embellishments later on if I can find any I like, but for now, I'm pretty proud of it.

The tale of the lost birth certificate

In the mean time, I'm also working part time for the adoption agency.  I didn't realize until this week, when I posted somethings about an adoption finalization I'm working on that people didn't know I was working for an adoption agency.  Funny stuff.  I apologize to anyone who that I was adopting a kid.  Funny enough, I think that might be a totally plausible conclusion for some people to come to about me.

The adoption agency pays the bills.  It was originally just meant to be me helping out an old employer with office organization until I found a "real job."  Then it suddenly became a "real job," funny how that happens.   My boss dropped an adoption finalization in my lap.  As you probably have guessed, I know absolutely nothing about adoption.  I don't even know anyone who has adopted or even been adopted.  But even so, my boss, overwhelmed by this finalization, gave me the project.  To make things a bit more stressful, the adoptive mother is fed up and outraged at the agency over this adoption.  My first email correspondence with her got me a response that started out by saying "Umm, Kassi."  Hell if that didn't piss me off.  But I used my professional prowess to send her a straightforward, yet kind email in response.  Eventually easing her over enough to not be so rude to me!  In the end, she made me feel really bad for her that all she wants is to finalize the adoption and be able to legally say that her baby is hers.  So I promised her I would take care of it, and I would take care of it quickly.

Then I realized I just promised something to someone, that I didn't have the slightest idea of how to do.

First I had to figure out what an adoption finalization is, and how to do it.  I spent the first few days emailing lawyers, adoption clerks at the court house, and even other agencies and asking them "how do I do an adoption finalization?"  Another local agency, our competition actually, was kind enough to give me a list of all the forms and paperwork I needed to get.  The finalization takes place at least 6 months after an adopted child has been living with the adoptive parent(s).  Everything becomes official once the finalization is complete and a new birth certificate, listing the adoptive parents as the parents of the child is generated.  It is pretty much the piece de resistance of adoptions.  The list the other agency gave me was quite intensive, and we were missing a lot of pieces.  None more crucial than the original birth certificate of the baby. On top of that though, our lawyer consultant (who normally would do the finalization but is quite expensive) informed me that we needed a few special motions because our case had special circumstances.  So I:

• pulled together the forms needed for the birth mother and the adoptive mother.  They each needed to sign and notarize about 6 different forms. 
• Found the forms from the court that the agency needed to fill out.  Not being a licensed social worker, I thought that my boss would need to fill them out.  But in the time it took me to corral her into the conference room and actually read and sign the forms, I was able to read through them and figure out how to do them on my own.  
• I got the lawyer to send me an example of a Motion to Waive Notice and a Motion to Approve the Open Adoption Agreement.  These were needed because of the special circumstances of this case.  What I find funny about the motions, is that they are in total lawyer jargon.  Complete with Hereto and wherefore and such.  It seems strange that I'm just typing up this super important court document in word on my laptop.  But that's what I did.  
• The biggest, most important, most complicated piece of the puzzle is the child's birth certificate.  Now we are supposed to have the birth certificate.  We did not have it.  I don't know if we had it at one point and lost it, if someone else had it, or what.  Fact remained, we didn't have it.  I figured out you get those from the Registry of Vital Statistics.  According to their website, you only need to know the birth date, birth place, and child's name to get the certificate.  It was too good to be true.  I called the office many times, only to ever get a voicemail.  I finally decided to go talk to someone, so I drove out to Dorchester (its right by the UMass Boston campus...very very pretty!).  I learned that you have to be a parent to get the certificate (duh!) and that if the parents are not married at the time of birth, the record is automatically restricted.  Being that we are the adoption agency and until the finalization is complete we technically have guardianship of the baby, we are allowed to get the certificate...but it takes a helluva lot of forms to get it.  I went back the next day with the birth mother's surrender, a copy of the agency's license, a copy of my boss's social work license, a letter that I wrote stating that I am an employee of the agency, a copy of my driver's license.  It took about 15 minutes of the guy checking with people to see if he could give me the the birth certificate...but he did!  I got it!  I got the birth certificate!  It has been a long time since I felt so happy and accomplished and all over a form for a kid I've never met!

So that's where we stand with the finalization.  I have more forms to send to the respective mothers, and still waiting on forms I sent them to come in.  My boss has to ok another form I made up and then we take all 75 million forms and letters and affidavits and motions to the adoption clerk and hope and pray that he doesn't say I did it all wrong.